The NWSL is in the midst of its CBA-mandated month-long break. All clubs are now at least a third of the way into their seasons, and the secondary transfer window opens next month, which makes this the perfect time for teams to reflect on how to make the most out of the rest of the season. Which position should each team look to recruit to fill in holes made apparent by the first few months of play?
Angel City
A central midfielder
Angel City is on a bit of a downslide. After winning their first three games of the season, the club had only one win from the next eight. To add insult to injury, the team traded away rising star Kennedy Fuller (but are replacing her with USWNT mainstay Ally Sentnor). On paper, the team seems fine — they have three excellent center backs, a rising star at right back, and some world class players up top in Sveindís Jónsdóttir, Jun Endo, and now Sentnor, with reliable favorites like Claire Emslie also returning to play. But these players aren’t translating into results. The jury’s still out on how Sentnor will fit in with this squad and contribute to the attack, but in the meantime it’s clear what isn’t working. The club ranks low in possession won in the middle third, pass completion, and passes into the final third. The club has recently signed central midfielder Ary Borges to a long contract, but her -0.03 passing and -0.05 interrupting g+ per 90 — meaning her passing and interrupting actions tend to make her team more likely to concede and less likely to score — suggest she’s been a contributor to this run of poor performance.
Bay FC
A forward
Signing Fuller, an excellent attacking midfielder, from Angel City is a good first step, but Bay FC desperately need goals — they sit second-to-last in the league in goals scored, ahead of only the Chicago Stars. Cristiana Girelli is not the answer, and more importantly she’s only there through August. After notching two assists in her first two games with Bay, Girelli has failed to get any more goal contributions for the club, and has even gotten two of her team’s goals called off for being in an offside position. Bay has generated the second-least expected goals (xG) so far this season, so something has to change up top. Alex Pfeiffer was a revelation with two goals and two assists in her first three games, but injury has kept her off the matchday roster for nearly two months. Besides Pfeiffer, the only competitive forward that this team has is Racheal Kundananji, who can play pretty much anywhere on the forward line as long as she has someone to combine with. But as long as Pfeiffer is still out, she doesn’t. And even when Pfeiffer comes back, Bay should consider adding a third productive forward to their squad.
Boston Legacy
A goalkeeper
Boston’s current spot at 14th in league standings is a little unflattering — the Swans rank 10th in xG created, 11th in xG differential, and 11th in xG conceded. Behind those middling numbers is the fact that goalkeeper Casey Murphy is one of two keepers who has yet to record a clean sheet this season. Murphy’s save percentage of 64.2% puts her at 15th in the league, and she has let in the third-most goals per 90 at 1.6. Upgrading the goalkeeper position won’t solve all of the expansion team’s problems, but it would be a good start.
Chicago Stars
A right back or a center back
The Chicago Stars are dead last in goals conceded and xG conceded, by a lot. This stat line makes a lot of sense when you look at their defense and realize they’ve been playing attacking wingers at fullback the entire season so far. Signing veteran Spanish left-back Leila Ouahabi from English side Manchester City was a good first step. Signing another option at right back would make it so that the Stars aren’t constantly one Michelle Alozie injury away from grossly misusing Ryan Gareis’s talent.
Also, the club that was playing Bea Franklin at center back for the first few games of the season, and are playing a sub-par center back in Kathrin Heindrich as their best case scenario, could use another center back. Adding a better player in this position would be a huge upgrade to the team’s defense, especially considering they seem to have decided they’re above star Stanford defender Elise Evans. Signing a right back or a center back would maybe make their defense better and would definitely free up their best wingers to actually play in the attack and create more than the worst xG and fewest goals in the league.
Denver Summit
A left winger
Yazmeen Ryan has the right wing spot on lock, with three assists and two goals for the Summit this season. The left side of Denver’s attack has seen a rotating cast consisting of rookie Olivia Thomas, rookie Yuna McCormack, rookie Natalie Means, league newcomer Ayo Oke, and league veteran Ally Brazier, none of whom have more than one goal contribution on the season. The vacuum at left wing has also caused left-back Janine Sonis to push up and play a more attacking role on the field than you’d ordinarily see from a defender, which could cause problems with the hole she leaves in the back. Sure, they can keep experimenting, but at this point it seems like head coach Nick Cushing isn’t going to find his ideal left winger within the existing roster.
Gotham FC
A fullback
With the departure of left back Lilly Reale to Boston Legacy, Gotham’s desperate need for an outside back only grows. Injuries to the only remaining fullbacks — Mandy Freeman and Bruninha — have forced the team to play wingers Midge Purce and Guro Reiten in defense. It has worked out alright for the Bats so far, but they’ve been playing with fire.
Houston Dash
A defensive midfielder
Houston’s youngest defensive midfielder is Cate Hardin, a rookie on a one-year deal who made the roster after joining the team as a non-roster invitee. Houston’s other defensive midfielders are 33-year-old Danny Colaprico, 33-year-old Sarah Puntigam, and 37-year-old Sophie Schmidt, all of whom are only contracted through this season. Every single rostered defensive midfielder is a bandaid, and it shows — the Dash have conceded the third-most goals and third-most xG so far this season. The team did a great job this offseason recruiting rookies on the forward line, and it’s high time to extend that philosophy to the midfield as well.
Kansas City Current
A defensive midfielder
Although they haven’t been quite as successful as they were last year, the Kansas City Current still make up a very complete squad. Their attacking personnel of Michelle Cooper, Temwa Chawinga, and Croix Bethune is the stuff nightmares are made of, and their back line is nearly identical to the one that gave up only 13 goals last season. The one thing that does stand out is the big Claire Hutton-sized hole in the midfield. Lo’eau LaBonta and Rocky Rodríguez have been doing a decent job holding the fort down, but a true defensive midfielder could be a game changer for a team that finds its soft underbelly exposed a lot more often than last season.
North Carolina Courage
A fullback
Sure, times are particularly tough right now in defense with center backs Maycee Bell and Natalie Jacobs out. And sure, at least one of them will probably be back by the time league play restarts next month. But playing Dani Weatherholt at fullback all season so far suggests defensive depth issues that go deeper than just injuries. An actual fullback would help.
Orlando Pride
A winger
Jacquie Ovalle is coming back, but the Pride’s attacking depth is more thin than the 2024 Shield and Championship winners would want it to be. Golden Boot leader Barbra Banda bagged her third brace of the season in Orlando’s last game against Bay FC, but in a game where two fullbacks were tasked with playing up top, the attack becoming the Banda show was the only option. Having Banda is a cheat code, but wouldn’t it be nice for her to have some help?
Portland Thorns
A defensive midfielder
The Portland Thorns entered this season with a giant Sam Coffey-sized hole in their midfield after doing little to patch it during the offseason. Instead, the club shifted from the 6-8-10 midfield that brought them so much success in 2025 to a double pivot featuring last season’s central midfielder Jessie Fleming and league newcomer Cassandra Bogere. What this means is Fleming is not given the freedom that her position higher up the pitch afforded her last season, and Bogere is left with big shoes to fill as a relatively unproven player. The Thorns are averaging 1.64 xG conceded per game this season compared to 1.38 per game last year. They’ve been bailed out in the attack by Olivia Moultrie, Pietra Tordin, and Sophia Wilson so far, but imagine how much more scary they’ll be with an attack aided by Fleming’s progression if she has the freedom to play as a no. 8.
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Racing Louisville
A center back and an attacking midfielder
After making the playoffs for the first time in club history last season under the deft management of Bev Yanez, Racing Louisville are entering the summer break in dead last. Part of that is bad luck — their xG differential is less than half as bad as Chicago’s — but no team is that unlucky. In particular, they’ve conceded the second-most xG in the league, largely in part due to having to play fullback Courtney Petersen at center back while Ellie Jean has been out with injury. Jean has since returned, but it’s never a good idea to roster only two center backs.
Louisville’s star playmaker Savannah DeMelo has also yet to return to league play since suffering a medical emergency on the pitch in September 2025. In her absence, striker Kayla Fischer has been putting in shifts at the attacking midfielder position, but as a center forward she doesn’t necessarily possess the playmaking abilities needed for the role. Louisville’s attack continues to rely on winger Emma Sears, but there’s only so much she can do for this rapidly sinking side.
San Diego Wave
A goalkeeper
In December the Wave unceremoniously dumped their only starting goalkeeper in club history, Kailen Sheridan, without seeming to have much of a plan to replace her. They signed 19-year-old Colombian keeper Luisa Agudelo in January after facing her in the December 2025 World Sevens tournament, but the keeper has yet to make an appearance for the California-based side. Instead, they’ve relied on last year’s backup keeper DiDi Haračić, who has recorded just one clean sheet and ranks 12th in save percentage (65 percent) and 14th in goals prevented (-1.1). Haračić spent a few weeks injured, giving sophomore Leah Freeman an opportunity between the sticks; Freeman used this time to save only 57.1 percent of the shots she faced, conceding six goals on only 4.6 PSxG faced.
The Wave recently announced the signing of Spanish goalkeeper Sandra Paños from Liga MX side Club América, but this past season the 33-year-old saved only around 60% of the shots she faced, let in seven more goals than the PSxG her team allowed, and wasn’t an excellent passer. All of this suggests her signing won’t solve San Diego’s issues in either the short- or long-term. The table toppers have had an excellent season so far, leading the league in both xG created and xG conceded. They will only become so much more scary with a keeper that can match their performances on the other parts of the field. (And if they do secure themselves a world class keeper, hopefully they’ll have learned their lesson and won’t offload her with no backup plan in a few years.)
Seattle Reign
A striker
Only two clubs have scored fewer goals or created less xG than the Seattle Reign this year and only one has attempted fewer shots. Maddie Mercado has done alright in her stints up top, scoring two goals in nine starts, but Mia Fishel, last season’s splashy signing, has nary a goal contribution to her name. Defense does win championships, but getting enough points to qualify for the playoffs requires goals. A team as historically ambitious and successful as the Seattle Reign needs better goalscorers, and what better way to facilitate that than with the signing of an in-form striker?
Utah Royals
A depth piece (or two)
The way the Royals are playing right now makes them a hard team to pick apart, but hidden beneath a starting XI that is firing on all cylinders is a bench that doesn’t measure up. The Utah Royals are one injury away from discovering and paying for the drop-off from Cloé Lacasse and Cece Delzer to Brecken Mozingo and Alexa Spaanstra on offense, and from Kate Del Fava to Tatumn Milazzo at center back. In order to capitalize on this newfound momentum and success, the Royals need to bolster their bench, especially in a season as long as this one.
Washington Spirit
A creative attacking midfielder
On a player level, the Spirit are a tough team to criticize. They’ve scored the third-most goals, conceded the second-fewest goals, and earned 12 out of 15 possible points from their last five games, suggesting everything is working just as it should right now. In defense, they’re benefitting from the return of seasoned veteran Andi Sullivan and strong performances from newer players Deborah Abiodun and Élisabeth Tsé. The one thing that they’re missing is Croix Bethune’s playmaking. Leicy Santos has definitely done her part for the team in this role, with the second-most goal contributions this season among a star-studded cast, but the dribbling and passing that Bethune provided brought the team to another level. A club that ranked second in 2025 and third in 2024 in big chances created now sits in sixth place in that same metric. But honestly, this is just nitpicking—the Spirit front office has done a great job constructing a deep, complete, and threatening squad.
All statistics come from American Soccer Analysis.
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